Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre and a frequent guest blogger for The Washington Post, recently in Merrick addressed about 60 parents from Nassau and Suffolk counties about federal and state changes to education.

He and the other speakers urged parents to use all possible avenues to press state legislators and the Education Department to roll back the changes, from organizing phone, email, social media and letter-writing campaigns to ceasing donations to officials who support the Regents Reform Agenda. Deutermann called for more parents to refuse to allow their children to take Common Core-based assessment tests, arguing that through civil disobedience, the Regents Reform Agenda will fall apart.

“Long Island is leading this charge,” Deutermann said. “We are the epicenter of this whole movement to end high-stakes tests, to make those changes on the Common Core and data mining. And let me tell you, New York is the epicenter of the country with all this stuff, because we were the ones that pushed to start it first. Everybody else is watching us.”

State Education Commissioner John King Jr. recently wrote in a letter to parents, “We understand that implementation of the Common Core and teacher/principal evaluation in a time of limited resources has come with significant challenges. The Board of Regents and I knew we would encounter a good amount of concern …We want — and need — to hear from teachers, parents and students as these important changes in practice occur in classrooms, schools and communities across the state.

“We know that moving forward with the Common Core is essential,” King continued. “Study after study shows that our students lag behind in the knowledge and skills required for their future. The Common Core standards, designed by teachers and education experts from across the country — and shaped by many New York State educators — will help us do better.”